Pines Behind The Web Times

April 10, 1998|By JOE KOLLIN Staff Writer

PEMBROKE PINES — Residents who want to look up a city code, register their child in a summer park program or demand that their city commissioner erect a stop sign will have to keep doing it the old-fashioned way just a little longer. In other words, they will have to use the phone, write a letter or travel to a city office.

For more than two years, the city has been trying to make things easier for residents by starting its own web page on the Internet. It hasn't succeeded.

On April 1, the City Commission rejected proposals from four firms seeking the contract to set up the site. The commission rejected the bids because the companies did not provide sufficient information to make a decision.

That marked the second time the city had tried to hire a company to set up a web page. In November, two companies sought the job but commissioners rejected the bids for the same reason.

The third time could be a charm because the city has an advantage it didn't before. It has hired an Internet specialist, Eileen Bonfielio, to help tell companies exactly what the city wants so they can respond better. She also will maintain the web site after the contractor designs it.

Mayor Alex Fekete is anxious to get the project going.

``The web is a sign of the future and we're already behind,'' he said. ``We need to get with it and make it easier for our constituents to deal with the city.''

City officials said they expect to formally ask for bids in about a week. The results will be analyzed and should be presented to the City Commission in about six weeks. If commissioners award the contract, the first web pages could be ready three to six months later.

Assistant City Manager Terry Stewart said the web site at first will provide information only about the city, possibly including the city charter and city codes.

``Then, as we move through the development process we'll be able to provide access to certain permit applications, such as garage sales and occupational licenses,'' he said.

Eventually, the site could provide e-mail access to commissioners.

The site, accessible to anyone in the world, would also be used to sell the city to industries and businesses thinking about moving, Stewart said.

Officials said they can't yet determine the site's cost.

The Police Department, meanwhile, isn't waiting for the city to start a web site. It has opened a page on the site maintained by Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth. The page is located at (http:/legal.firn.edu/muni/pembroke/).

The page doesn't cost the city anything and ``helps us keep the public informed,'' Chief Martin Rahinsky said.

Really a series of pages, the site tells about the police department's special units, such as traffic, K-9, bicycle and community relations. It also provides alerts to the community, such as a warning that a series of burglaries has occurred in a neighborhood, or a request to help look for the driver of a hit-and-run car and to get the community to help look for a missing person with Alzheimer's disease, Rahinsky said.